New-York Historical Society | Friday Night Film Talks

Friday Night Film Talks

Let’s go to the movies! New-York Historical is digging into the archives of the Bernard and Irene Schwartz Classic Film Series to highlight talks you may have missed. Rewatch the films, which are available to rent or purchase online, and enjoy these free, engaging discussions from the comfort of your home. Having trouble finding a film online? Contact public.programs@nyhistory.org for assistance.

Bookmark this page and come back every Friday for a new movie recommendation and related talk.

The Letter (1940)
Friday, January 14, 2022

Catherine Wyler, composer Paul Moravec, and acclaimed producer Susan Lacy present William Wyler’s captivating melodrama that opens with a homicide and finds Bette Davis’ character with the smoking gun in her hand. Was it self-defense or cold-blooded murder? Directed by William Wyler. Starring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson. Recorded March 28, 2014

Available on: Prime Video | Apple TV

Listen to the talk:

Catherine Wyler has served as a studio executive, an independent producer, and has held leadership positions at major American cultural institutions, including as Senior Vice President of Production at Columbia Pictures and Director of Cultural and Children’s Programming at PBS. Paul Moravec, an award-winning composer and University Professor at Adelphi University, composed the music for an opera adaptation of The Letter. Susan Lacy is the creator and former executive producer of Thirteen/WNET’s award-winning biography series American Masters.

Strangers on a Train (1951)
Friday, January 7

Internationally-renowned documentary filmmaker Ric Burns delves into Alfred Hitchcock’s suspenseful thriller about two strangers whose discussion of the perfect murder takes a deadly turn. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker. Recorded April 18, 2014

Available on: Prime Video | YouTube

Listen to the talk:

Ric Burns is the writer and director of numerous historical documentaries and is the founder of Steeplechase Films, an award-winning production company that has become one of PBS’s most trusted collaborators.

That Hamilton Woman (1941)
Friday, December 17

Michael Korda, nephew of the film’s director, Alexander Korda, discusses the great romance of Lady Hamilton and Admiral Nelson and how this film, made with Churchill’s input and encouragement, compares Britain’s struggle against Napoleon to its resistance against Hitler. Directed by Alexander Korda. Starring Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Alan Mowbray. Recorded March 29, 2013

Available on: HBO Max | Kanopy

Listen to the talk:

Michael Korda is editor in chief emeritus of Simon & Schuster. His most recent book is Passing: A Memoir of Love and Death.

In a Lonely Place (1950)
Friday, December 10
Adam Gopnik and Richard Brody discuss one of Bogart’s finest and lesser-known film performances in this postwar film noir murder mystery. Directed by Nicholas Ray. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame. 94 min. Recorded May 17, 2013

Available on: Crackle | Amazon Prime

Listen to the talk:

Adam Gopnik has been a writer for the New Yorker since 1986. He is the award-winning author of many books, including Paris to the Moon, a series of essays written while he lived in Paris, and A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism. Richard Brody began writing for the New Yorker in 1999. He is the author of Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard.

Indochine (1992)
Friday, December 3

Historian Lien-Hang Nguyen with Ron Simon and Dale Gregory introduce this Academy Award-winning film, set in colonial French Indochina during the rise of the Vietnamese nationalist movement, that tells the story of a French woman and her adopted Vietnamese daughter. (French with English subtitles.) Directed by Régis Wargnier. Starring Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh Dan Pham. Recorded March 9, 2018

Available on: Amazon Prime | Apple TV

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Lien-Hang Nguyen is Dorothy Borg Associate Professor in the History of the United States and East Asia at Columbia University. Ron Simon is curator of television and radio at the Paley Center for Media. Dale Gregory is vice president for public programs at the New-York Historical Society.

MASH (1952)
Friday, November 26

Preceding the hit television series, this Oscar-winning satirical black comedy set during the Korean War follows a mismatched group of military personnel at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt. Recorded March 2, 2018

Available on: HBO Max

Listen to the talk:

Ron Simon is curator of television and radio at the Paley Center for Media. Dale Gregory is vice president for public programs at the New-York Historical Society.

High Noon (1952)
Friday, November 19

Author Ted Widmer delves into one of the greatest Western dramas of all time, which features Gary Cooper as a brave small-town lawman who prepares for the arrival of a deadly nemesis at high noon. Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell. Recorded May 30, 2014

Available on: Pluto TV | YouTube | Amazon Prime

Listen to the talk:

Ted Widmer is Distinguished Lecturer at the Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York. He has directed research centers and libraries, notably at the Library of Congress (the Kluge Center) and Brown University (the John Carter Brown Library). He is also the author of numerous books, including his most recent, Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington.

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
Friday, November 12

Michael Korda, nephew of the film’s director, Alexander Korda, and son of the film’s art director, Vincent Korda, introduces this British biographical dramedy following the exploits of King Henry VIII as he navigates through his infamous multiple marriages. Directed by Alexander Korda. Starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon. Recorded October 11, 2019

Available on: HBO Max | Tubi | Amazon Prime

Listen to the talk:

Michael Korda is editor in chief emeritus of Simon & Schuster. His latest book is Passing: A Memoir of Love and Death.

The Winslow Boy (1948)
Friday, November 5

Renowned constitutional scholar Philip Bobbitt and former director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, Betty Sue Flowers, introduce this drama that pits the rights of an individual against a powerful establishment. Directed by Anthony Asquith. Starring Robert Donat, Margaret Leighton, Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Recorded on May 9, 2014

Available on: Amazon Prime | The Roku Channel

Listen to the talk:

Philip Bobbitt is a leading constitutional scholar and Herbert Wechsler Professor of Federal Jurisprudence at Columbia Law School. Betty Sue Flowers is the former director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum and an emerita professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Shining (1980)
Friday, October 29

During a long winter, a caretaker and his family find themselves isolated in a hotel haunted by the malevolent spirits of its past occupants. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd. Recorded on January 27, 2017

Available on: HBO Max | Amazon Prime | Apple TV

Listen to the talk:

Ric Burns, New-York Historical Scholar Trustee, is the writer and director of numerous historical documentaries and is the founder of Steeplechase Films, an award-winning production company that has become one of PBS’s most trusted collaborators.

Cabin in the Sky (1943)
Friday, October 22

Gail Lumet Buckley, daughter of Cabin in the Sky star Lena Horne, and Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, in conversation with Bob Herbert, introduce the musical that follows Little Joe, a chronic gambler given a second chance at life in order to prove himself worthy of heaven. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, Busby Berkeley (uncredited). Starring Ethel Waters, Eddie “Rochester”Anderson, Lena Horne. Recorded March 3, 2017

Available on: Amazon Prime | Google Play | Apple TV

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Gail Lumet Buckley is the author of The Black Calhouns: From Civil War to Civil Rights with One American Family. Louise Kerz Hirschfeld is President of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation. Bob Herbert is an award-winning journalist and the producer and director of the PBS documentary film Against All Odds: The Fight for a Black Middle Class.

Red Dust (1932)
Friday, October 15

A rubber plantation owner in colonial French Indochina becomes embroiled in a love triangle. Lien-Hang Nguyen, Ron Simon, and Dale Gregory introduce this romantic drama starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Mary Astor. Directed by Victor Fleming. Starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Mary Astor. Recorded November 17, 2017

Available on: Amazon Prime | Vudu | Criterion Channel

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Friday, October 8

Legal experts Linda Greenhouse and Robert Post team up to present Frank Capra’s classic political comedy-drama, which showcases Jimmy Stewart at his “everyman” finest. Directed by Frank Capra. Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, and Edward Arnold. Recorded February 21, 2014

Available on: Amazon Prime | HBO Max | YouTube

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Linda Greenhouse, a senior research scholar in law at Yale Law School, covered the Supreme Court for the New York Times between 1978 and 2008 and writes a biweekly op-ed column on law as a contributing columnist. Robert Post is Sterling Professor of Law and former Dean of Yale Law School.

Lincoln (2012)
Friday, October 1
Civil War historians Harold Holzer and Edna Greene Medford introduce Steven Spielberg’s historical drama set in 1865, following President Lincoln’s struggle to persuade Congress to pass the 13th Amendment. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones. Recorded February 10, 2017

Available on: HBO Max | Amazon Prime | Apple TV

Listen to the talk:

Harold Holzer, the author, co-author, or editor of more than 50 books on Lincoln and the Civil War era, served as historical consultant for the film Lincoln (2012). His latest book is The Presidents vs. the Press. Edna Greene Medford is associate provost for faculty affairs, professor of history, and former chair of the History Department at Howard University, where she was also interim dean of arts & sciences.

Philadelphia (1993)
Friday, June 4

The first major Hollywood film to tackle one of the greatest health crises in history, this courtroom drama helped give HIV-AIDS a human face and ignite a wider conversation about the social, political, and medical issues surrounding the disease. Directed by Jonathan Demme. Starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington. Recorded February 27, 2015

Available on: Hulu | Amazon Prime | Apple TV

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Linda Greenhouse is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. Robert Post is Sterling Professor of Law and former dean of Yale Law School. Kenji Yoshino is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law and the director of the school’s Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.

It Happened One Night (1934)
Friday, May 28

In the first film to win the “Big 5” at the Academy Awards, Claudette Colbert stars in this classic comedy as a stranded heiress who reluctantly accepts the help of a reporter, played by Clark Gable, in order to reunite with her new husband. Directed by Frank Capra. Starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert. Recorded June 5, 2015

Available on: Amazon Prime | Google Play | Apple TV

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Ted Widmer is Distinguished Lecturer at Macaulay Honors College (CUNY). He is the author of Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington and is the former director of the John Carter Brown Library. Previously he taught American history at Washington College and Harvard University.

Jezebel (1938)
Friday, May 21

Catherine Wyler, in conversation with 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, discusses her father’s Antebellum drama in which a Southern belle attempts to win back her ex-fiancé. Directed by William Wyler. Starring Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent. Recorded April 24, 2015

Available on: YouTube | Google Play | Amazon Prime

Listen to the talk:

Catherine Wyler’s career spans the worlds of film, television, and live theater. She’s served as a studio executive, an independent producer, and has held leadership positions at major American cultural institutions. In the 1980s, she was senior vice president of production at Columbia Pictures and director of cultural and children’s programming at PBS. Lesley Stahl has been a correspondent for 60 Minutes since 1991 and is a former CBS News White House correspondent.

The Joy Luck Club (1993)
Friday, May 14

Joy Luck Club co-star Rosalind Chao, joined by performing arts critic for Asia, Ken Smith, discusses this moving film that weaves together past and present through the intricate lives of four Chinese immigrants and their daughters. Directed by Wayne Wang. Starring Kieu Chinh, Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao. Recorded March 13, 2015

Available on: iTunes | YouTube | Google Play

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Rosalind Chao is an actress best known for her roles as Rose Hsu in The Joy Luck Club and as Keiko in Star Trek: The Next Generation, among numerous other film credits. Ken Smith writes about Asian arts and culture for the Financial Times and other publications, and is the author of Fate! Luck! Chance! Amy Tan, Stewart Wallace and the Making of The Bonesetter’s Daughter Opera.

Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Friday, May 7

When a rogue general launches a nuclear attack on the U.S.S.R., the president and his war team must scramble to prevent doomsday. Tune in to hear Ric Burns's take on Stanley Kubrick’s iconic dark comedy that satirizes the pervasive anxieties of Cold War America. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden. Recorded Friday, January 29, 2016

Available on: Hulu | Amazon Prime | Showtime

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The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
Friday, April 30

Actress Isabella Rossellini, in conversation with Academy Award-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, discusses her father’s classic retelling of the story of St. Francis and the birth of the Franciscans in nine vignettes. (Italian with English subtitles.) Directed by Roberto Rossellini. Starring Aldo Fabrizi, Gianfranco Bellini. Recorded Friday, December 18, 2015

Available on: Kanopy | The Criterion Channel

Listen to the talk:

Isabella Rossellini, daughter of Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman, is an accomplished actress, having starred in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her. Thelma Schoonmaker, a celebrated film editor, has won Academy Awards for her work on Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed, and has been nominated for four more. She has been an integral part of director Martin Scorsese’s creative team for over 40 years and has edited all of his feature films since 1980.

The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Friday, April 23

When a gay man living in New York plans a marriage of convenience to placate his traditional Taiwanese parents, his charade is turned on its head when they decide to fly to New York City for the wedding. Directed by Ang Lee. Starring Winston Chao, May Chin, Mitchell Lichtenstein. Recorded February 20, 2015

Available on: Vudu | Tubi

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Ron Simon is Curator of Television and Radio at the Paley Center for Media. Joanna Lee is an author and also serves as a presenter, moderator, and interpreter at the annual Hong Kong International Film Festival. Ken Smith is a music critic, author, and journalist. They are the co-founders and co-authors of the book series Pocket Chinese Classics. John Woo is the founder and president of Woo Art International. He is also the executive director of the Asian CineVision which presents the Asian American International Film Festival.

North by Northwest (1959)
Friday, April 23

Renowned documentary filmmaker Ric Burns introduces Alfred Hitchcock’s intense spy thriller, which finds Cary Grant on the run due to a deadly case of mistaken identity. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason. Recorded October 24, 2014

Available on: HBO Max | YouTube | iTunes

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The Fallen Idol (1948)
Friday, April 16

Author Michael Korda explores Carol Reed’s award-winning British drama, produced by his uncle Alexander Korda, in which an impressionable child’s innocence is challenged when his butler is accused of murder. Directed by Carol Reed. Starring Ralph Richardson, Michèle Morgan, Sonia Dresdel, Bobby Henrey. Recorded Friday, May 2, 2014

Available on: Hulu | Amazon Prime | iTunes

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Michael Korda is a best-selling author and the former Editor-in-Chief of Simon & Schuster. As an editor, he worked with an incredible array of authors, including Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Nixon, as well as Kirk Douglas, Larry King, and David McCullough.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Friday, April 9

Starting with the Second Boer War and moving through World War I and beyond, this emotional epic takes viewers on a journey through four decades in the life and loves of British military officer Clive Wynne-Candy. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Starring Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook. Recorded Friday, January 17, 2014

Available on: iTunes | Amazon Prime

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Thelma Schoonmaker, a celebrated film editor, has won Academy Awards for her work on Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed, and has been nominated for four more. She has been an integral part of director Martin Scorsese’s creative team for over 40 years and has edited all of his feature films since 1980.

In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Friday, April 2

Actress Lee Grant and acclaimed producer Susan Lacy discuss this Academy Award-winning crime drama starring the incomparable Sidney Poitier as a detective from Philadelphia who is assigned to a murder case in a racist Southern town. Directed by Norman Jewison. Starring Sidney Poitier, Lee Grant, Rod Steiger. Music by Quincy Jones. Recorded Friday, November 1, 2013

Available on: Amazon Prime | iTunes | Google Play

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Lee Grant’s stunning stage, film, and television career has included an Emmy Award for Peyton Place and an Academy Award for Shampoo. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in In the Heat of the Night. Susan Lacy is the creator of American Masters, Thirteen/WNET’s award-winning biography series celebrating arts and culture, where she served as executive producer for nearly 30 years.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Friday, March 26

Historian Ted Widmer examines Frank Capra’s timeless screwball comedy, in which small-town Mr. Deeds—played memorably by Gary Cooper—inherits millions in the midst of the Great Depression. Directed by Frank Capra. Starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft. Recorded June 14, 2013

Available on: Amazon Prime | Google Play | YouTube

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They Were Expendable (1945)
Friday, March 19

John Ford’s classic war film depicts the courage and strength of the PT boat crews serving in the Philippines inthe days after Pearl Harbor. Directed by John Ford. Starring Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed. Recorded June 7, 2013

Available on: Amazon Prime | iTunes | Google Play

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Mary Owen is the daughter of Donna Reed, star of such films as It's A Wonderful Life and They Were Expendable, and serves on the board of directors for the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts. Craig L. Symonds is a leading naval historian and professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Ron Simon is Curator of Television and Radio at the Paley Center for Media.

Adam’s Rib (1949)
Friday, March 12

This classic comedy stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers who oppose each other in court. Directed by George Cukor. Starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn. Recorded Friday, March 23, 2018

Available on: Amazon Prime | iTunes | Google Play

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Annette Gordon-Reed is Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School and the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. Honorable Robert R. Reed is a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, sitting in New York County, where he presides over jury trials and manages a wide-ranging docket of civil litigation actions and proceedings. Ron Simon is Curator of Television and Radio at the Paley Center for Media. Dale Gregory is Vice President for Public Programs at the New-York Historical Society.

Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Friday, March 5

Adam Gopnik and Richard Brody dive into Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller, in which a young reporter struggles to uncover Nazi agents in Britain. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders. Recorded May 3, 2013

Available on: HBO Max | iTunes | Amazon Prime

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Adam Gopnik has been writing for the New Yorker since 1986. He has won the National Magazine Award for Essays and for Criticism numerous times as well as the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting. His books include A Thousand Small Sanities and The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food. Richard Brody is the movie listings editor at the New Yorker, where he writes film reviews, a DVD column, and the blog The Front Row. He is the author of Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard.

The Wiz (1978)
Friday, February 26

This cult classic musical extravaganza is a reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s beloved book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz featuring a star-studded all-Black cast. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Lena Horne. Recorded Friday, February 28, 2020

Available on: Showtime | Hulu | Amazon Prime

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Shelton Becton is a music director, conductor, and arranger, whose Broadway credits include The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin', The Color Purple, Memphis, Baby It’s You!, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, and Shuffle Along. He has worked with artists such as Judy Collins, Phylicia Rashad, and Bette Midler, and presently serves as music director for Roberta Flack. He has performed with Marvin Hamlisch, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., and his compositions and vocal work have been featured in radio, television, and film. Dale Gregory is vice president for public programs at the New-York Historical Society.

American Madness (1932)
Friday, February 19

Released 14 years before It’s a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra hints at the darker side of the American dream in this Depression-era film about an idealistic bank president who faces disaster after his institution is robbed. Directed by Frank Capra. Starring Walter Huston. Recorded Friday, February 14, 2014

Available on: Amazon Prime | Google Play | Vudu

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Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
Friday, February 12

As the World War II raged in Europe, Americans found solace and inspiration in this film, chronicling one of the nation’s greatest presidents and his electrifying rise to national prominence. Directed by John Cromwell. Starring Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon. Recorded Friday, March 8, 2013

Available on: Amazon Prime | YouTube | iTunes

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Harold Holzer is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 50 books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era. Ron Simon is curator of television and radio at the Paley Center for Media.

Flower Drum Song (1961)
Friday, February 12

Old World tradition and American romanticism collide in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s lighthearted musical comedy. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, this film features one of the first largely Asian American casts in Hollywood cinema. Directed by Henry Koster. Starring Nancy Kwan, Jack Soo, Miyoshi Umeki. Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014

Available on: Amazon Prime | Vudu | Google Play

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Denny Chin is United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit. David Henry Hwang is a renowned playwright and screenwriter and is America’s most-produced living opera librettist. He is a Tony Award winner and three-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, and a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. One of his Tony nominations was for Best Book of a Musical for the 2002 Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song.

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Friday, February 5

Based on the autobiography of Robert Elliot Burns, Sherrilyn Ifill and Khalil Gibran Muhammad explore the film about a World War I veteran that is falsely convicted of robbery and forced to endure the brutal realities of the chain-gang system in the South. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Starring Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell. Recorded Friday, January 30, 2015

Available on: Amazon Prime | TCM | YouTube

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Sherrilyn Ifill is the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and the critically-acclaimed author of On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century. Khalil Gibran Muhammad is professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the Suzanne Young Murray Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. He is a trustee of the New-York Historical Society.

Paths of Glory (1957)
Friday, January 29

In one of his first major films, Stanley Kubrick teams up with Kirk Douglas to provide an unapologetic look at the futile and dehumanizing nature of war. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou. Recorded Friday, November 22, 2013

Available on: Amazon Prime | Tubi | YouTube

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Michael Korda is a best-selling author and editor in chief emeritus of Simon & Schuster. As an editor, he worked with an incredible array of authors, including Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Nixon, as well as Kirk Douglas, Larry King, and David McCullough.

All the President’s Men (1976)
Friday, January 22

Akhil Reed Amar and Philip Bobbitt explore Alan J. Pakula’s intense political thriller that follows reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in their pursuit of truth during the Watergate scandal. Directed by Alan J. Pakula. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford. Recorded Friday, May 29, 2015

Available on: HBO Max | Amazon Prime | Google Play

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Philip Bobbitt, a leading constitutional theorist, is Herbert Wechsler Professor of Jurisprudence at Columbia Law School. Akhil Reed Amar is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University and a trustee of the New-York Historical Society.

The Thin Man (1934)
Friday, January 15

Constitutional theorist Philip Bobbitt discusses a classic murder mystery in which a former detective reluctantly investigating the disappearance of a wealthy inventor invites all the suspects to a dinner party. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke. Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy. Recorded Friday, March 20, 2015

Available on: HBO Max | iTunes | Google Play

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Philip Bobbitt, a leading constitutional theorist, is Herbert Wechsler Professor of Jurisprudence at Columbia Law School.

Things to Come (1936)
Friday, January 8

In an intriguing vision of alternative history from the mind of science fiction master H.G. Wells, a blighted Britain attempts to survive a new Dark Age after decades of fighting for a forgotten cause. Directed by William Cameron Menzies. Starring Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Cedric Hardwicke. Recorded Friday, December 1, 2017

Available on: Amazon Prime | iTunes | Google Play

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Annette Gordon-Reed, a trustee of the New-York Historical Society, is Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School and a professor of history in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. Michael Korda, nephew of Things to Come producer Alexander Korda and son of the film’s set designer, Vincent Korda, is editor in chief emeritus of Simon & Schuster. Ron Simon is curator of television and radio at the Paley Center for Media. Dale Gregory is vice president for public programs at the New-York Historical Society.

Stormy Weather (1943)
Friday, December 18

Loosely based on the life of its star, dancer and actor Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, this musical showcases some of the greatest Black talents of the early-to-mid 20th century. Remarks by cultural critic and biographer Stanley Crouch and journalist Bob Herbert. Directed by Andrew L. Stone. Starring Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra. Recorded Friday, June 6, 2014

Available on: Amazon Prime | iTunes | Google Play

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Stanley Crouch (1945–2020) was an award-winning journalist, cultural critic, and author of numerous essays and books, including Considering Genius: Writings on Jazz. Bob Herbert is an award-winning journalist and the producer and director of the PBS documentary film Against All Odds: The Fight for a Black Middle Class.

Roman Holiday (1953)
Friday, December 11

Melanie Wyler and Bob Herbert explore this romantic jewel about a sheltered princess in Rome who sneaks out for a night on the town and meets a charming American reporter. Directed by William Wyler. Starring Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert. Recorded Friday, June 13, 2014

Available on: Amazon Prime | YouTube | iTunes

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Melanie Wyler is a public relations professional and the daughter of William Wyler, the film’s director. Bob Herbert is an award-winning journalist and the producer and director of the PBS documentary film Against All Odds: The Fight for a Black Middle Class.

All the King’s Men (1949)
Friday, December 4

A trio of acclaimed law scholars discuss the film noir that follows the rise of ambitious politician Willie Stark, allegedly modeled after the real 1930s Louisiana governor Huey Long. Directed by Robert Rossen. Starring Broderick Crawford, John Ireland. Recorded Friday, February 16, 2018

Available on: Amazon Prime | Google Play | iTunes

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Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Friday, November 27

Produced as the world braced for war, this film depicts a young Abe Lincoln bracing for the biggest case of his career. Directed by John Ford. Starring Henry Fonda. 100 min. Recorded Friday, March 1, 2013

Available on: Amazon Prime | iTunes | YouTube

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Harold Holzer is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 50 books on Lincoln and the Civil War era. His latest book is The Presidents vs. the Press: The Endless Battle between the White House and the Media—from the Founding Fathers to Fake News. Ron Simon is curator of television and radio at the Paley Center for Media.

The Third Man (1949)
Friday, November 20

Kati Marton and David Denby discuss the film noir masterpiece set in postwar Vienna. Directed by Carol Reed. Starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Recorded Friday, February 15, 2013

Available on: Amazon Prime | iTunes | YouTube

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Kati Marton is an award-winning journalist, human rights activist, and author of several books. David Denby has been a staff writer and film critic at the New Yorker since 1998. Prior to joining the magazine he was the film critic for New York magazine and was the recipient of a National Magazine Award.

Double Victory: The Tuskegee Airmen at War (2012)
Friday, November 13, 7 pm

Legendary filmmaker George Lucas joins Brent Staples and former Tuskegee Airman Roscoe Brown to discuss this documentary, produced by Lucasfilm Ltd., spotlighting America’s first all-black aerial unit who broke racial barriers and challenged stereotypes by serving their country in World War II. This documentary was made in conjunction with Lucasfilm’s historical drama Red Tails (also available free on YouTube.) Recorded Friday, October 26, 2012

Available on: YouTube

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George Lucas is a renowned producer, writer, director, and the founder of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is a co-founder of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and was the executive producer of the 2012 Lucasfilm production Red Tails. Roscoe Brown (1922–2016) was the director of the Center for Urban Education Policy at the Graduate School and University Center of CUNY and a former Tuskegee Airman. During World War II, he flew 68 long-range missions from August of 1944 to March of 1945 and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service. Brent Staples (moderator) writes on a wide range of topics for the New York Times editorial board and was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for his essays on race and racism in the United States.

The Search (1948)
Friday, November 6, 7 pm

Actress Lee Grant is joined by Susan Lacy to discuss Montgomery Clift and his groundbreaking and profoundly moving portrayal of a U.S. Army engineer in postwar Europe, as he forms a bond with a young boy who was torn away from his mother during World War II. Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Starring Montgomery Clift, Jarmila Novotna, Aline MacMahon, and Ivan Jandl. Recorded Friday, January 11, 2013

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Lee Grant established herself as a formidable Broadway actress when still in her teens, winning the Critics Circle Award for her performance as the shoplifter in Detective Story. She recreated this portrayal on film, earning the Cannes Film Festival award as Best Actress and her first of four Academy Award nominations. Her stunning film and television career has included an Emmy Award for Peyton Place and an Academy Award for Shampoo. Susan Lacy, a renowned filmmaker and director, is the creator and former executive producer of the award-winning PBS biography series American Masters. In 2013, she made the move from public television to independent filmmaking with the formation of her own company, Pentimento Productions.

I Was A Male War Bride (1949)
Friday, October 30

New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik, in conversation with Richard Brody, presents one of his favorite films, a zany comedy set in postwar Germany about a French officer who soon discovers that moving to America with his new wife won’t be as simple as they thought. Directed by Howard Hawks. Starring Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan and Marion Marshall. Recorded Friday, January 25, 2013

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Twelve O’Clock High (1949)
Friday, October 23

Acclaimed historian Gordon S. Wood introduces one of his favorite films from his youth, in which Gregory Peck stars as a bomber pilot in a unit that carried out daylight raids over Germany and occupied France. Directed by Henry King. Starring Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell, and Dean Jagger. Recorded Friday, December 14, 2012

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Gordon S. Wood is Alva O. Way University Professor Emeritus at Brown University and one of the nation’s most distinguished historians. He is the author of many works, including The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, which won the Bancroft Prize, and The Radicalism of the American Revolution, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize.

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)
Friday, October 16

Michael Korda introduces the film, produced by Alexander Korda, about six British airmen downed over the German-occupied Netherlands and the brave Dutch citizens who risk their lives to protect them. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Starring Godfrey Tearle, Eric Portman, Hugh Williams, and Bernard Miles. Recorded Friday, November 9, 2012

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Michael Korda, a bestselling author, is the nephew of the film’s producer, Alexander Korda. His latest book is Passing: A Memoir of Love and Death.

The Clock (1945)
Friday, October 9

New Yorker writers Adam Gopnik and Richard Brody set the scene for this film about a young soldier on 48-hour leave in New York City who finds an unlikely romance amid the turbulence and upheaval of the time. Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Starring Judy Garland, Robert Walker, and James Gleason. Recorded Friday, November 2, 2012

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Adam Gopnik has been a writer for the New Yorker since 1986. He is the award-winning author of many books, including Paris to the Moon, a series of essays written while he lived in Paris, and A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism. Richard Brody began writing for the New Yorker in 1999. He is the author of Everything is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard.

Casablanca (1942)
Friday, October 2

Author Kati Marton and the New Yorker's David Denby team up to present one of the landmarks of American cinema: Casablanca, a romantic and political drama amid the dread of World War II. Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, and Conrad Veidt. Recorded Friday, February 1, 2013

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Kati Marton is an award-winning journalist, human rights activist, and author of several books. David Denby has been a staff writer and film critic at The New Yorker since 1998. Prior to joining the magazine he was the film critic for New York magazine and was the recipient of a National Magazine Award.

Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Friday, September 25

Catherine Wyler discusses her father’s award-winning tale of strength and resilience on the British home front, with Lesley Stahl. Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Directed by William Wyler. Starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, and Dame Mae Whitty. Recorded Friday, October 19, 2012

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Catherine Wyler is a producer and former studio executive that has also held leadership roles at an array of cultural institutions throughout her career. She is the daughter of William Wyler, director of Mrs. Miniver. Lesley Stahl is a correspondent for 60 Minutes and a former CBS News White House correspondent.

Image: Entrance and marquee of the Strand Theatre, 1579 Broadway, New York City, undated [ca. August-September 1918]. Hassler, William Davis, 1877-1921; Tuskegee airman Marcellus G. Smith, Louisville, Kentucky, and Roscoe C. Brown Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945. (Source: Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group pilots, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)